H Mechanical Plumbing & Sewers

Initial Business Response /* (1000, 11, 2014/03/26) */
Received a text on 1/25/REGARDING plumbing issues/sewer from homeowner from a mutual associateShowed up Monday morning 1/27/HOMEOWNER was unable to meet during business hours (to 4)H.Mechanical came out between 5:
/am as a courtesyWe did not charge a service fee which is normally $to work in the suburbs (due to mutual acquaintance)Homeowner was informed no service trip because of this mutual acquaintanceHomeowner did not give exact location of sewer/clog from the two previous plumbers at that timeWe scheduled for a camera/location inspection per homeowners request for $which she paid by personal check
Upon further inspection we found that previous plumber cut a hole in homeowners plumbing stack and did not repair the hole, which is against Illinois Plumbing Code Industry Standards and a health and property riskHole was covered with sliced mission bands from previous plumber
1/28/HMechanical's technicians showed up with camera and locaterMet with homeowner and her religious advisor, which she called to have presentLocated sewer in back of home but we were unable to get a clear visual on cameraHowever we were able to locate where the clog roughly was (screen went white 35- feet)Homeowner was given options, first option was to install clean out by back door in utility room area which would be closer to the clogSecond option was to repair and install clean out at the base of stack which was previously mentioned where the hole was from previous plumberThird option was to dig outside and install clean out in back yard which would have been not realistic due to extreme weather conditions (roughly degrees below 0)Homeowner was told the first option were not a guarantee, but the 3rd option would be the best but not realistic due to the weather at that time
Homeowner was advised that rodding would be included in all optionsShe chose option
(to repair and install clean out at the base of stack )at a price of $for labor and materialsHer choice was made obvious that she paid for with her credit card and by the estimate we emailed her on 1-29-Estimate clearly states that we are not responsible for the restoration of wall, ceilings, floors, etcin order to get to the plumbing pipes to make proper repairs
While working she called the previous plumber who left the hole in her plumbing stack and handed us the phone to question him as to why he did not fix the stackHis reply was she did not pay for itAlthough it is not our place to talk to other plumbers about homeowners plumbing issues, again this was done as a courtesyCamera inspection took approximately hours because of and needing to remove toilet and reinstall it with wax seal at no additional charge due to the fact she has no clean out at base of stackReceived deposit (50%) $on 1/via phone orderwork began that Saturday, February 1st Installed cleanout on plumbing stack as outlined in email estimate after rodding for hrs with giving her hours extra at no charge due to the fact that more work would have to be done as sewer was not clearingFound secondary clean out on kitchen drain line which was not connected due to rust, age, and was leaking behind the wallShowed homeowner that cleanout tee was not connectedShe asked us to put it back without proper installation and claimed we broke itDuring work we found out from homeowner that this was a rehab home (unfortunately if you don't do your homework to check if the home has been rehabbed properly with city permits and hire reputable home inspectors before you purchase, a lot of times homeowners find major problems with their property down the line)During the rodding process we pulled out grease, roots, and etcand put a temporary connection on the secondary cleanout that was discovered on the kitchen line again at no chargeWe proceeded to clean up as best as possible and prepared to leave premises due to hostile atmosphere from homeowner
Homeowner called her religious advisor again who seemed to somewhat cool down the situation
and asked us to work with her on the price seeing she had much more work needing to be doneHmechanical charged a final balance of $at that timeTotal payment given for completion of second option was $from homeowner a discount of $260, not including the extra work that was done at no charge
Initial Consumer Rebuttal /* (3000, 13, 2014/03/31) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Found secondary clean out on kitchen drain line which was not connected due to rust, age, and was leaking behind the wallShowed homeowner that cleanout tee was not connectedShe asked us to put it back without proper installation and claimed we broke itDuring work we found out from homeowner that this was a rehab home (unfortunately if you don't do your homework to check if the home has been rehabbed properly with city permits and hire reputable home inspectors before you purchase, a lot of times homeowners find major problems with their property down the line)The above which Mr*** stated is not trueThe hole that Mr*** put cut into my wall had absolutely nothing to do with my plumbing issuesHe basically came in and played Russina Roulette with my house because he had no idea what he was doingI can and will get a signed statement from any other plumber to note that the hole that he put into my wall was totally unncessary and had nothing to do with the issue at handAlso Mr*** failed to mention that he left me voice mail message on 2/stating that he planned to reimburse me $for the last check that I wrote to him which is evidence of the fact that he acknowledges he was was wrong in how he handled this matterMr*** continues to speak of a spiritual adviser this was in a fact a friend which I am not understanding what this has to do with anythingI had a witness there to represent and that is the only thing that is relevant and he can attest to everything that I previously documentedAlso Mr*** never once showed the receipt for the camera that was supposedly rented which is what I asked himAgain Mr*** seems to be very defensive when it comes to asking for receiptsI still have the enormous hole in my wall that he put there, which again this hole had nothing to do with the previous issueMr *** seems to mention a lot regarding what he did but fails to mention what he did not do and that is fix my plumbing and he is not being truthful when he says that he gave me options as I mentioned in my intital complaint Mr*** told me that because of the ground being frozen solid there is no way he could dig into the ground to replace the pipesIn conclusion I would also like to mention that my problem was corrected by a reputable plumber who came in and did the job wihout having to dig up my ground which Mr*** later claimed was the only way to fix the problemPublish my response and I would like to see this go to arbitration like I mentioned Mr*** owes me at least half of the money that was paid out to himI still have to have someone to come in and fix the hole in my wall! As I mentioned early Mr*** did agree to refund me $which I have yet to receiveThe last time I communicated with him was on 2/through an email and he called me at my work at left a voice mail stating to refund the $I mentioned to him in my email that I would prefer that he contact me either through email or text so as to have documentation since Mr*** has a problem with being honestI am not sure what the problem is with him being honestHe is at most a horrible and incompetent plumber at least a incredibly disnoest plumberAlso there was no extra work that Mr*** didThe only extra work he did was like I said was to put an enourmous hole in my wall which I now have to pay someone to fixI stand by my original complaint and Mr*** has grossly exagerrated his responseI look forward to the day when if this cannot be resolved to face Mr*** face to face
Final Business Response /* (4000, 15, 2014/04/11) */
Homeowner will not be receiving any further refunds or discounts from HMechanicalWe have done all we can to try to appease this client by not charging her full price for service that was performed
Final Consumer Response /* (4200, 17, 2014/04/16) */
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
Mr*** from H Mechanical called and left me a voice mail message 2/6/stating that he would refund me in the amount of $and I have not received anything from himHe is lying by stating that he has tried to resolve the situationHe has made no effort to "appease" meI still have a hole in my wall that Mr*** tore into that had no bearing on the job he was to be performingMr*** has made no attempt to rectify the situationI would like to go forward with Arbitration for this matter as soon as possibleMr*** lied in his initial response when he claimed that the problem had to do with the house being rehabbed, that is untrue my house was not rehabbed and I have the documents to prove itThe problem with my plumbing has since been resolved and was done appropriately by professionals who did not see the need to cut holes into my house that was not related to the initial problemI can and will have a problem attest to the fact that Mr*** unrepentantly caused unnecessary damage to my propertyHe had no idea what he was doing and to attempt to save face made the problem worse than it was and left it for me to fix without even an apologyI am ready and willing to see this as far as I can go until I receive at least half of my money returned if not the amount that Mr*** had initially promised to return in the amount of $